Big Island Club Dive Report
- Sockmonkey
- I've Got Gills
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- Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:43 am
Big Island Club Dive Report
I should have promoted it more thoroughly but there was a club dive today here on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Scuba Scott and Diver Doug were kind enough to escape their vacation plans and come spend some time underwater with me and my dive buddies today. They're not traveling together. It was just one big happy coincidence that we were all able to dive on the same day. Joining us was Scott's friend Rick who kept watch over us while snorkeling. Also a few local dive buddies of mine came along too. Jackson, his lady Sarah, and Kim who works at my LDS.
With names like Scuba Scott and Diver Doug I was a little bummed that I couldn't think of an alliterative name for myself. Egalitarian Eric? Erudite Eric? DIR Doofus? UTD Eunice? Bathymetric Bonehead? I'll have a think on that.
We met up at 0800 at Puako #56. A well known entry point and one of the easier ones to deal with at low tide. Of all the swim-outs this one is maybe the shortest. I was also interested in hitting this spot early since the trade winds have been really honk'n lately and they start mid morning most days. The wind wasn't too bad at first but there was a little baby swell to deal with.
One of my steel bottles I normally dive with was sitting at my LDS so rather than dive two different tanks sizes (and one with air and a yoke) I decided to assemble my doubles for today. Oh boy was that a minor mistake.
Jackson picked a good path for us that had us walking on the pahoehoe (smooth lava) rather than crawl along the shallows after a long walk. Since it was so low the lava was slickery with seaweed which made for a bit of a treacherous walk for me in doubles. My booties are worn and smooth. Now and then I'll wear a pair of neoprene socks with my rockboots over them so I can wear my slipstreams but today was not one of those days. Everyone made it across the hawaiian slip-n-slide and we kicked out as the wind picked up. A few wave were breaking over us but nothing too bad.
Scott and Kim make their way across the slippery lava:
Doug exemplifies Slow and Steady Winning the Race:
I had my wing fully inflated and was enjoying the mattress-esque feel of it kicking out slowly on my back. Well I guess I pumped it up just a little too much. Just as we reached the dropoff I sank like a rock. I was for sure that the little ball on the end of my butt dump was caught in my waist strap. It turns out my inflatorhösen popped off the top of my wing. Stupid oxycheq! To be fair I bought it used recently from a reliable source (If someone sees Rick Inman before I do this april please poke him in the ribs for me) but I do have 20 dives on the stupid thing.
Pop goes the hose!
The long under water walk:
So everyone else dropped down while I stood on the coral feeling totally guilty for killing coral wondering what to do. I took my rig off and tried to see if I could tighten the ziptie but it sank away quickly. Then there was a moment I was lamenting not having a DIR folding snorkel with me when I realized I was holding scuba tanks with a regulator. I ended up taking about 20 mins to basically walk back in 7 feet of water. I paused for a while and laid my tanks in the sand and snuba'd with my 7' hose (what a great depth gauge). Eventually when I got bored I carried my rig for a while hopping pushing off and kicking a few feet at a time. Once bored of that I put my rig on and literally walked back to shore with my fins in my hand. I was pretty tired by the time I got near the exit and then my hood came unclipped as I was fussing with my reg. What fun chasing it across the shallow slippery lava.
Snuba:
This little guy was sitting right behind my rig:
Bored!
Lugging full 80s with a 5lb tail weight:
Partly cloudy:
Of course I missed the pregnant white tip that Jackson and Sarah have been talking about for a week. It sounds like they had a good dive while I sat on the beach eating snacks and chatting with Rick the snorkeler. Maybe Doug or Scott can chime in with a report of that first dive.
Our next dive was at the Kohala Coast Cove2: Paniau. The land of lava tubes, cracks, and crevices. I'm pretty sure the man upstairs wanted me to dive that day because Doug and Scott found a ziptie under the picnic table at Paniau. Wow! Jackson went back to his place down the road and picked me up a couple and a needle nose to cinch it down. I was good to go.
Two.... count them... two zipties:
I was late getting in the water proving that even in Hawaii I'm always the first one at a dive site and the last one in the water. I ended up talking stories with a couple from the bay area. Actually I should all over them for a while that they hadn't gone diving in Monterey yet live close by. Shame on them.
Paniau was fairly usual. Caves, slipper lobsters, a nice sized nudi, crabs, one small tako etc. Toward the end of the dive Jackson spotted a super red frogfish which was totally the highlight of my day. We highfived underwater and I struggled with a hand signal for you da man but I think he understood.
Doug snapping away:
Scott waving away:
Turtle running away:
I hope other folks got a better picture of the frogfish:
Exit:
Doug, Scott, Jax, and Me:
Somewhere along the way I clipped of the camera I was using and I don't know how but it came free. Not unlike the ziptie under the table I was wicked blessed today. Just as the camera dropped I rolled on my back for no reason to look up. I saw Rick for the first time snorkeling and pointing like a madman. Spinning around I watched the camera sink away. I scooped it up like a world cup goalie and blew Rick a few kisses underwater (that look like the sign language for thank you). I love that guy... it wasn't my camera. I borrowed this new camera from work to see how well it did. Canon saw fit to take away the underwater setting for this thing. How dumb... I can't wait to tell my boss he bought a camera without this setting. The ikelite housing is pretty cherry tho.
Hopefully I'll get to dive with those guys again if they can convince their bosses to sneak away from their vacations again . Until then I wish them a butt ton of Aloha.
Maybe Scott and Doug will post their photos when they get back to the mainland.
Aloha hard,
-Eric
Scuba Scott and Diver Doug were kind enough to escape their vacation plans and come spend some time underwater with me and my dive buddies today. They're not traveling together. It was just one big happy coincidence that we were all able to dive on the same day. Joining us was Scott's friend Rick who kept watch over us while snorkeling. Also a few local dive buddies of mine came along too. Jackson, his lady Sarah, and Kim who works at my LDS.
With names like Scuba Scott and Diver Doug I was a little bummed that I couldn't think of an alliterative name for myself. Egalitarian Eric? Erudite Eric? DIR Doofus? UTD Eunice? Bathymetric Bonehead? I'll have a think on that.
We met up at 0800 at Puako #56. A well known entry point and one of the easier ones to deal with at low tide. Of all the swim-outs this one is maybe the shortest. I was also interested in hitting this spot early since the trade winds have been really honk'n lately and they start mid morning most days. The wind wasn't too bad at first but there was a little baby swell to deal with.
One of my steel bottles I normally dive with was sitting at my LDS so rather than dive two different tanks sizes (and one with air and a yoke) I decided to assemble my doubles for today. Oh boy was that a minor mistake.
Jackson picked a good path for us that had us walking on the pahoehoe (smooth lava) rather than crawl along the shallows after a long walk. Since it was so low the lava was slickery with seaweed which made for a bit of a treacherous walk for me in doubles. My booties are worn and smooth. Now and then I'll wear a pair of neoprene socks with my rockboots over them so I can wear my slipstreams but today was not one of those days. Everyone made it across the hawaiian slip-n-slide and we kicked out as the wind picked up. A few wave were breaking over us but nothing too bad.
Scott and Kim make their way across the slippery lava:
Doug exemplifies Slow and Steady Winning the Race:
I had my wing fully inflated and was enjoying the mattress-esque feel of it kicking out slowly on my back. Well I guess I pumped it up just a little too much. Just as we reached the dropoff I sank like a rock. I was for sure that the little ball on the end of my butt dump was caught in my waist strap. It turns out my inflatorhösen popped off the top of my wing. Stupid oxycheq! To be fair I bought it used recently from a reliable source (If someone sees Rick Inman before I do this april please poke him in the ribs for me) but I do have 20 dives on the stupid thing.
Pop goes the hose!
The long under water walk:
So everyone else dropped down while I stood on the coral feeling totally guilty for killing coral wondering what to do. I took my rig off and tried to see if I could tighten the ziptie but it sank away quickly. Then there was a moment I was lamenting not having a DIR folding snorkel with me when I realized I was holding scuba tanks with a regulator. I ended up taking about 20 mins to basically walk back in 7 feet of water. I paused for a while and laid my tanks in the sand and snuba'd with my 7' hose (what a great depth gauge). Eventually when I got bored I carried my rig for a while hopping pushing off and kicking a few feet at a time. Once bored of that I put my rig on and literally walked back to shore with my fins in my hand. I was pretty tired by the time I got near the exit and then my hood came unclipped as I was fussing with my reg. What fun chasing it across the shallow slippery lava.
Snuba:
This little guy was sitting right behind my rig:
Bored!
Lugging full 80s with a 5lb tail weight:
Partly cloudy:
Of course I missed the pregnant white tip that Jackson and Sarah have been talking about for a week. It sounds like they had a good dive while I sat on the beach eating snacks and chatting with Rick the snorkeler. Maybe Doug or Scott can chime in with a report of that first dive.
Our next dive was at the Kohala Coast Cove2: Paniau. The land of lava tubes, cracks, and crevices. I'm pretty sure the man upstairs wanted me to dive that day because Doug and Scott found a ziptie under the picnic table at Paniau. Wow! Jackson went back to his place down the road and picked me up a couple and a needle nose to cinch it down. I was good to go.
Two.... count them... two zipties:
I was late getting in the water proving that even in Hawaii I'm always the first one at a dive site and the last one in the water. I ended up talking stories with a couple from the bay area. Actually I should all over them for a while that they hadn't gone diving in Monterey yet live close by. Shame on them.
Paniau was fairly usual. Caves, slipper lobsters, a nice sized nudi, crabs, one small tako etc. Toward the end of the dive Jackson spotted a super red frogfish which was totally the highlight of my day. We highfived underwater and I struggled with a hand signal for you da man but I think he understood.
Doug snapping away:
Scott waving away:
Turtle running away:
I hope other folks got a better picture of the frogfish:
Exit:
Doug, Scott, Jax, and Me:
Somewhere along the way I clipped of the camera I was using and I don't know how but it came free. Not unlike the ziptie under the table I was wicked blessed today. Just as the camera dropped I rolled on my back for no reason to look up. I saw Rick for the first time snorkeling and pointing like a madman. Spinning around I watched the camera sink away. I scooped it up like a world cup goalie and blew Rick a few kisses underwater (that look like the sign language for thank you). I love that guy... it wasn't my camera. I borrowed this new camera from work to see how well it did. Canon saw fit to take away the underwater setting for this thing. How dumb... I can't wait to tell my boss he bought a camera without this setting. The ikelite housing is pretty cherry tho.
Hopefully I'll get to dive with those guys again if they can convince their bosses to sneak away from their vacations again . Until then I wish them a butt ton of Aloha.
Maybe Scott and Doug will post their photos when they get back to the mainland.
Aloha hard,
-Eric
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
Charlie & Foxtrot go diving, part duex?
GUE Seattle - The official GUE Affiliate in the Northwest!
- Joshua Smith
- I've Got Gills
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- Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:32 pm
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
Great trip report, Eric! Funny stuff! I'm glad you managed to keep your sense of humor the whole time, too.
Maritime Documentation Society
"To venture into the terrible loneliness, one must have something greater than greed. Love. One needs love for life, for intrigue, for mystery."
"To venture into the terrible loneliness, one must have something greater than greed. Love. One needs love for life, for intrigue, for mystery."
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
Submersible Sockmonkey? Epic Eric? Bumbling Brager?Sockmonkey wrote:With names like Scuba Scott and Diver Doug I was a little bummed that I couldn't think of an alliterative name for myself. Egalitarian Eric? Erudite Eric? DIR Doofus? UTD Eunice? Bathymetric Bonehead? I'll have a think on that.
nice report, though. as always an entertaining read.
i hope you have your act together when i come visit....
- Sockmonkey
- I've Got Gills
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- Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:43 am
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
A couple photos Jackson sent me....
Preggo white tip: Frogface: -Eric
Preggo white tip: Frogface: -Eric
- Scuba Scott
- Aquaphile
- Posts: 189
- Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:41 pm
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
Going to just post a few pictures if I can. My wireless connection is poor. Thanks for the great dives and it was a pleasure diving with Doug, Eric and friends.
Life can be short and dives even shorter. Time off work will put it all in perspective.
http://www.waterproofdecks.blogspot.com
http://www.waterproofdecks.blogspot.com
- Scuba Scott
- Aquaphile
- Posts: 189
- Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:41 pm
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
Filled the tanks and hope to sneak out for a little more bottom time.
Life can be short and dives even shorter. Time off work will put it all in perspective.
http://www.waterproofdecks.blogspot.com
http://www.waterproofdecks.blogspot.com
- Scuba Scott
- Aquaphile
- Posts: 189
- Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:41 pm
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
Packing lunch and heading to the beech.
Life can be short and dives even shorter. Time off work will put it all in perspective.
http://www.waterproofdecks.blogspot.com
http://www.waterproofdecks.blogspot.com
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
Eric, did you shave your head???
You guys are way braver than I am. If I tried to do entries and exits over that kind of rock, someone would have to hold my hand the whole way.
You guys are way braver than I am. If I tried to do entries and exits over that kind of rock, someone would have to hold my hand the whole way.
"Sometimes, when your world is going sideways, the second best thing to everything working out right, is knowing you are loved..." ljjames
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
Snuba!
Hilarity, as usual, Mr. Sockmonkey! What is the well camo'd fish after your reg?
ScubaScott - nice pics! Someday, I hope to have the photo-skillz! :roll:
Hilarity, as usual, Mr. Sockmonkey! What is the well camo'd fish after your reg?
ScubaScott - nice pics! Someday, I hope to have the photo-skillz! :roll:
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
I'd TOTALLY hold your hand... hell, I'd carry your gear. Bonaire is the same way. Often, Tom and I would enter holding onto one another just to get in (to where the fire coral and scorpion fish were).LCF wrote:Eric, did you shave your head???
You guys are way braver than I am. If I tried to do entries and exits over that kind of rock, someone would have to hold my hand the whole way.
Lynne, I have a green light to visit Eric whenever I want (after school). If you'd like to plan a trip, something tells me Eric could accommodate both of us... and I guess Peter could come too, since we did T1 together... I guess.
I noticed a pretty X1 on Eric's arm in those pictures too. I wonder what he'll be wearing next time we see picture of him...
GUE Seattle - The official GUE Affiliate in the Northwest!
- Sockmonkey
- I've Got Gills
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- Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:43 am
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
Actually Sounder... my name was Charles Foxtrot that first dive. Upon closer inspection the previous owner of that wing had gooped up the port with RTV or something. It made it extra slippery. It is no wonder that it popped off. I'm just glad it happened in the shallows. How embarrassing would it have been to need your dive buddies to ascend and tow you back?
I'm in and out of the water so much that it became easier just to buzz my head every week.
-Eric
Yep. I might have taken the spatman idolizing thing a little too far no?LCF wrote:Eric, did you shave your head???
I'm in and out of the water so much that it became easier just to buzz my head every week.
At high tide you can usually just take a few steps and lay in the water to kick/crawl out... but it was super low that morning. If I had been thinking I would have told everyone to wear gloves. Doug managed to cut his finger open getting out of the water on the first dive but it wasn't anything a dry 10 year old bandaid and some blue duct tape couldn't fix.LCF wrote:You guys are way braver than I am. If I tried to do entries and exits over that kind of rock, someone would have to hold my hand the whole way.
I think it is some sort of scorpion fish. It falls under the one of only two fish species buttuglium pescatorious here on the BI. The other is prettifishi hawaiaconas.Jenbowes wrote: Hilarity, as usual, Mr. Sockmonkey! What is the well camo'd fish after your reg?
-Eric
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
Eric, I think you're Josh's soul brother. (See Jenbowes' current critter ID thread.)
"Sometimes, when your world is going sideways, the second best thing to everything working out right, is knowing you are loved..." ljjames
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- Aquaphile
- Posts: 147
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:26 pm
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
A couple of great dives, Eric, Scott, Jackson, Kim, and Jackson's friend ( sorry didn't get her name), a pleasure to dive with all of you. Probably some of the best island dives I've had. Very interesting with lots of swim throughs and caves.
Here is a couple of pictures.
Here is a couple of pictures.
If only I had Gills
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
Great report Eric and everyone! Well written, funny, darn good entertainment, and almost free!
Whetting my apetite for island diving...
Whetting my apetite for island diving...
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
- sheahanmcculla
- I've Got Gills
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Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
Nice reports, and great pictures! I can't wait to go back. But my wife tells me we need to go to "Vegas on the Rocks" this time. :(
- Scuba Scott
- Aquaphile
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- Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:41 pm
Re: Big Island Club Dive Report
Having a great week. Wish I had some more dive time. Trade winds are blowing and swells are up on the Kona Coast. Glad I'm not back home in all the rain. I will take the warm wind and poor 50 foot viz any day.
Life can be short and dives even shorter. Time off work will put it all in perspective.
http://www.waterproofdecks.blogspot.com
http://www.waterproofdecks.blogspot.com